Method, system, and computer readable medium for rule-based multi-selection gifting

ABSTRACT

A method for multi-selection gifting, including maintaining, by at least one of a plurality of computers, a gift database including records for multi-selection gifts, each record including a plurality of product identifiers for items of merchandise, and at least one selection rule governing selection of at least two of the items of merchandise, and interactively enabling, by at least one of the plurality of computers, a gift giver to generate a multi-selection gift for at least one gift recipient, including presenting, to the gift giver, a group of selection rules for selection by the gift giver, the group including allowing a gift recipient to select up to a specified total number of items of merchandise in the multi-selection gift, allowing the gift recipient to select items of merchandise in the multi-selection gift up to a specified total cost, and allowing the gift recipient to select items of merchandise in the multi-selection gift up to a specified total measure. A system and a computer-readable storage medium are also described and claimed.

PRIORITY REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.11/897,215, entitled ELECTRONIC COMMERCE RULE-BASED MULTI-SELECTIONGIFTING filed on Aug. 28, 2007 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,761,344 by inventorMichael George Smith.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to electronic on-line commerce.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

E-commerce technology enables consumers to purchase items of merchandiseon-line, from web sites that act as virtual stores. Pioneers ofe-commerce include Amazon.com, Inc. of Seattle, Wash., eBay Inc. of SanJose, Calif., and Shop.com of Monterey, Calif. E-commerce technologycombines on-line catalogue ingest, browsing and search, inventorymanagement, purchase and payment transactions, automated paymentprocessing, and other components within a comprehensive e-commerceserver.

The growth of the Internet as a medium for consumer marketing has led toterrific growth of product and service offerings. One direction of thisgrowth has been in the expansion from single vendor e-commerce sitesthat act as virtual stores, to multi-vendor e-commerce sites that act asvirtual shopping malls. The virtual shopping mall provides a singleintegrated web site where consumers can purchase goods and services froma wide diversity of merchants. Multi-vendor e-commerce web sites areable to incorporate features of single vendor sites, and have thepotential of offering features beyond those offered on single vendorsites.

A growing feature of single vendor and multi-vendor web sites, which hasproven to be a substantial source of revenue, is the commerce of giftgiving. The expansion of web sites from single vendor to multi-vendorprovides opportunities for extending traditional models of gift givingthat have not yet been realized. In addition, traditional e-commercegifts are limited to unilateral actions taken by a gift giver that donot necessarily take into consideration tastes, preferences or physicalcharacteristics of a gift recipient.

There is thus a need for designs and implementations of gift-givingtechnologies, which allow gift recipients to have flexibility inselecting items that are meaningful, useful and enjoyable to them, whilestill adhering to constraints, such as cost, prescribed by the giftgiver.

SUMMARY OF THE DESCRIPTION

The present invention concerns e-commerce, and more specifically singlevendor and multi-vendor on-line shopping malls. Aspects of the presentinvention provide systems and methods for single vendor and multi-vendorgift giving, which enable a gift giver to generate a custom gift,including a plurality of items of merchandise from a plurality ofmerchants, and which enable a gift recipient to select one or more ofthe gift items in accordance with rules prescribed by the gift giver.

The present invention enables a gift giver to designate a plurality ofitems of merchandise, in the form of goods and services from multiplemerchant catalogues, from which a gift recipient may choose one or moregoods and services. The gift giver may prescribe constraints on theitems that the gift recipient may select, such as a limit on the totalnumber of items that recipient may select, or a limit on the total costof the items that the recipient may select. Together, the plurality ofdesignated items of merchandise and the prescribed constraints define a“multi-selection gift”.

The present invention guides the gift recipient in selecting his giftitems, so that the recipient's selections are in compliance with thegift giver's constraints. The present invention also guides the giftrecipient in selecting applicable options associated with the gift itemshe selects, such as size, color, and monogramming. The present inventionenables the on-line shopping mall system to issue appropriate purchaseorders to the various merchants in accordance with the items that therecipient selects, and to issue an appropriate invoice to the giftgiver.

An advantage provided by the present invention is that the gift giver isnot billed for purchase of his gift until the gift is redeemed by thegift recipient. In distinction, prior art gifting technologies generallybill the gift giver at the time of purchase of his gift, which hasseveral drawbacks. One such drawback is that in many instances gifts arenot redeemed, or are only partially redeemed, and yet the gift giver wasbilled in full. In some cases mechanisms exist for gift givers torequest refunds for un-redeemed or partially-redeemed gifts, but thisrequires effort on the part of the gift giver, which in turn is adisincentive for purchasing gifts. For example, a gift giver purchases a$300 gift certificate for a gift recipient, and is billed $300 at thetime of purchase. However, the gift recipient only redeems $250 worth ofgifts. The $50 balance is held in a gift recipient account forapplication towards future purchases, but may never be used by the giftrecipient, or may be used reluctantly by the gift recipient forpurchases he never intended to make. Using the present invention, thegift recipient would be billed only $250, at the time the gift recipientredeems the certificate.

The present invention includes a database for storing multi-selectiongifts, a gift generator web tool for enabling a gift giver to generate acustom multi-selection gift, a notification mechanism for notifying agift recipient of his multi-selection gift and for providing him with anidentifier of the gift, and a gift redeemer web tool for enabling thegift recipient to redeem his multi-selection gift in accordance with theconstraints set by the gift giver.

There is thus provided in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention a method for multi-selection gifting, including maintaining amerchandise database including records for merchandise for a pluralityof merchants, each record including a stock keeping unit (SKU) for anitem of merchandise, a description of the item, a price of the item, andthe merchant for the item, maintaining a gift database including recordsfor multi-selection gifts, each record including at least one giftrecipient, a plurality of SKU's for items of merchandise, and at leastone selection rule for selecting at least one of the items ofmerchandise, interactively enabling a gift giver to generate amulti-selection gift for a gift recipient, interactively guiding thegift recipient to select at least one of the items of merchandise in themulti-selection gift in accordance with the gift's at least oneselection rule, aggregating the at least one item selected by the giftrecipient according to merchant, issuing purchase orders to eachmerchant in accordance with the aggregated selected items correspondingto such merchant, and billing the gift giver according to the at leastone item of merchandise selected by the gift recipient.

There is additionally provided in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention a system for multi-selection gifting, including amemory for storing a merchandise database including records formerchandise for a plurality of merchants, each record including a stockkeeping unit (SKU) for an item of merchandise, a description of theitem, a price of the item, and the merchant for the item, and a giftdatabase including records for multi-selection gifts, each recordincluding at least one gift recipient, a plurality of SKU's for items ofmerchandise, and at least one selection rule for selecting at least oneof the items of merchandise, a gift generator for enabling a gift giverto generate a multi-selection gift for a gift recipient, a gift redeemerfor enabling the gift recipient to select at least one of the items ofmerchandise in the multi-selection gift in accordance with the gift's atleast one selection rule, a purchase order manager for aggregating theat least one item selected by the gift recipient according to merchant,and for issuing purchase orders to each merchant in accordance with theaggregated selected items corresponding to such merchant, and an invoicemanager for billing the gift giver according to the at least one item ofmerchandise selected by the gift recipient.

There is moreover provided in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention a computer-readable storage medium storing programcode for causing a computing device to maintain a merchandise databaseincluding records for merchandise for a plurality of merchants, eachrecord including a stock keeping unit (SKU) for an item of merchandise,a description of the item, a price of the item, and the merchant for theitem, to maintain a gift database including records for multi-selectiongifts, each record including at least one gift recipient, a plurality ofSKU's for items of merchandise, and at least one selection rule forselecting at least one of the items of merchandise, to interactivelyenable a gift giver to generate a multi-selection gift for a giftrecipient, to interactively guide the gift recipient to select at leastone of the items of merchandise in the multi-selection gift inaccordance with the gift's at least one selection rule, to aggregate theat least one item selected by the gift recipient according to merchant,to issue purchase orders to each merchant in accordance with theaggregated selected items corresponding to such merchant, and to billthe gift giver according to the at least one item of merchandiseselected by the gift recipient.

There is further provided in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention a method for multi-selection gifting, includingidentifying a multi-selection gift, the multi-selection gift includingat least one gift recipient, a plurality of gift choices, each giftchoice being either an individual item of merchandise or a group ofitems of merchandise, and a designated maximum number of gift choicesthat may be selected, and interactively guiding the gift recipient inselecting one or more of the plurality of gift choices, includingmaintaining a selection counter that informs that gift recipient as towhether the gift recipient's selection of gift choices have reached thedesignated maximum number, and ensuring that the gift recipient'sselection of gift choices does not exceed the designated maximum numberof gift choices.

There is yet further provided in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention a method for multi-selection gifting, includingidentifying a multi-selection gift, the multi-selection gift includingat least one gift recipient, a plurality of gift choices, each giftchoice being either an individual item of merchandise or a group ofitems of merchandise, and a designated maximum cost of gift choices thatmay be selected, and interactively guiding the gift recipient inselecting one or more of the plurality of gift choices, includingmaintaining a selection counter that informs that gift recipient as towhether the cost of the gift recipient's selection of gift choices hasreached the designated maximum cost, and ensuring that the giftrecipient's selection of gift choices does not exceed the designatedmaximum cost of gift choices.

There is additionally provided in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention a system for multi-selection gifting, including amemory for storing a multi-selection gift, the multi-selection giftincluding at least one gift recipient, a plurality of gift choices, eachgift choice being either an individual item of merchandise or a group ofitems of merchandise, and a designated maximum number of gift choicesthat may be selected, and a user interface for interactively guiding thegift recipient in selecting one or more of the plurality of giftchoices, by maintaining a selection counter that informs that giftrecipient as to whether the gift recipient's selection of gift choiceshave reached the designated maximum number, and by ensuring that thegift recipient's selection of gift choices does not exceed thedesignated maximum number of gift choices.

There is moreover provided in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention a system for multi-selection gifting, including amemory for storing a multi-selection gift, the multi-selection giftincluding at least one gift recipient, a plurality of gift choices, eachgift choice being either an individual item of merchandise or a group ofitems of merchandise, and a designated maximum cost of gift choices thatmay be selected, and a user interface for interactively guiding the giftrecipient in selecting one or more of the plurality of gift choices, bymaintaining a selection counter that informs that gift recipient as towhether the cost of the gift recipient's selection of gift choices hasreached the designated maximum cost, and by ensuring that the giftrecipient's selection of gift choices does not exceed the designatedmaximum cost of gift choices.

There is further provided in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention a computer-readable storage medium storing programcode for causing a computing device to identify a multi-selection gift,the multi-selection gift including at least one gift recipient, aplurality of gift choices, each gift choice being either an individualitem of merchandise or a group of items of merchandise, and a designatedmaximum number of gift choices that may be selected, and tointeractively guide the gift recipient in selecting one or more of theplurality of gift choices, by maintaining a selection counter thatinforms that gift recipient as to whether the gift recipient's selectionof gift choices have reached the designated maximum number, and ensuringthat the gift recipient's selection of gift choices does not exceed thedesignated maximum number of gift choices.

There is yet further provided in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention a computer-readable storage medium storing programcode for causing a computing device to identify a multi-selection gift,the multi-selection gift including at least one gift recipient, aplurality of gift choices, each gift choice being either an individualitem of merchandise or a group of items of merchandise, and a designatedmaximum cost of gift choices that may be selected, and to interactivelyguide the gift recipient in selecting one or more of the plurality ofgift choices, by maintaining a selection counter that informs that giftrecipient as to whether the cost of the gift recipient's selection ofgift choices has reached the designated maximum cost, and ensuring thatthe gift recipient's selection of gift choices does not exceed thedesignated maximum cost of gift choices.

There is additionally provided in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention a method for multi-selection gifting, includingidentifying a multi-selection gift, the multi-selection gift including agift recipient, a plurality of gift choices, each gift choice beingeither an individual item of merchandise or a group of items ofmerchandise, and a designated maximum cost of gift choices that may beselected, and interactively guiding the gift recipient in selecting oneor more of the plurality of gift choices without exceeding thedesignated maximum cost, including un-grouping a group of items in agift choice into a plurality of individual items, and re-grouping aplurality of items into a group, if the plurality of items wereoriginally part of the same group in the multi-selection gift.

There is moreover provided in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention a system for multi-selection gifting, including amemory for storing a multi-selection gift, the multi-selection giftincluding a gift recipient, a plurality of gift choices, each giftchoice being either an individual item of merchandise or a group ofitems of merchandise, and a designated maximum cost of gift choices thatmay be selected, and a user interface for interactively guiding the giftrecipient in selecting one or more of the plurality of gift choiceswithout exceeding the designated maximum cost, by un-grouping a group ofitems in a gift choice into a plurality of individual items, and byre-grouping a plurality of items into a group, if the plurality of itemswere originally part of the same group in the multi-selection gift.

There is further provided in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention a computer-readable storage medium storing programcode for causing a computing device to identify a multi-selection gift,the multi-selection gift including a gift recipient, a plurality of giftchoices, each gift choice being either an individual item of merchandiseor a group of items of merchandise, and a designated maximum cost ofgift choices that may be selected, and to interactively guiding the giftrecipient in selecting one or more of the plurality of gift choiceswithout exceeding the designated maximum cost, by un-grouping a group ofitems in a gift choice into a plurality of individual items, and byre-grouping a plurality of items into a group, if the plurality of itemswere originally part of the same group in the multi-selection gift.

There is yet further provided in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention a method for multi-selection gifting, includingidentifying a multi-selection gift, the multi-selection gift including agift giver, a gift recipient, a plurality of items of merchandise, andat least one selection rule for selecting at least one of the items ofmerchandise, interactively guiding the gift recipient in selecting atleast one item of merchandise in accordance with the at least oneselection rule, and billing the gift giver subsequent to theinteractively guiding, according to the at least one item of merchandiseselected by the gift recipient.

There is additionally provided in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention a system for multi-selection gifting, including amemory for storing a multi-selection gift, the multi-selection giftincluding a gift giver, a gift recipient, a plurality of items ofmerchandise, and at least one selection rule for selecting at least oneof the items of merchandise, a user interface for interactively guidingthe gift recipient in selecting at least one item of merchandise inaccordance with the at least one selection rule, and an invoice managerfor billing the gift giver according to the at least one item ofmerchandise selected by the gift recipient.

There is moreover provided in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention a computer-readable storage medium storing programcode for causing a computing device to identify a multi-selection gift,the multi-selection gift including a gift giver, a gift recipient, aplurality of items of merchandise, and at least one selection rule forselecting at least one of the items of merchandise, to interactivelyguide the gift recipient in selecting at least one item of merchandisein accordance with the at least one selection rule, and to bill the giftgiver according to the at least one item of merchandise selected by thegift recipient.

There is further provided in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention a method for multi-selection gifting, includingpresenting a gift recipient with a set C={c₁, c₂, . . . , c_(n)} of giftchoices, n>1, together with at least one constraint of the form ƒ(S)≦x,where ƒ is a real-valued function of subsets S⊂C, and interactivelyguiding the recipient in selecting a subset S⊂C that satisfies that atleast one constraint, wherein the at least one function ƒ ismonotonically increasing in the sense that ƒ(S₁)≦ƒ(S₂) whenever S₁ ⊂S₂.

There is yet further provided in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention a system for multi-selection gifting, including amemory for storing a set C={c₁, c₂, . . . , c_(n)} of gift choices, n>1,together with at least one constraint of the form ƒ(S)≦x, where ƒ is areal-valued function of subsets S⊂C; and a user interface forinteractively guiding a gift recipient in selecting a subset S⊂C thatsatisfies that at least one constraint, wherein the at least onefunction ƒ is monotonically increasing in the sense that ƒ(S₁)≦ƒ(S₂)whenever S₁ ⊂S₂.

There is additionally provided in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention a computer-readable storage medium storing programcode for causing a computing device to present a gift recipient with aset C={c₁, c₂, . . . , c_(n)} of gift choices, n>1, together with atleast one constraint of the form ƒ(S)≦x, where ƒ is a real-valuedfunction of subsets S⊂C; and to interactively guide the recipient inselecting a subset S⊂C that satisfies that at least one constraint,wherein the at least one function ƒ is monotonically increasing in thesense that ƒ(S₁)≦ƒ(S₂) whenever S₁ ⊂S₂.

There is moreover provided in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention a method for gifting, including interactively enablinga gift giver to generate an electronic gift for a gift recipient,interactively guiding the gift recipient to redeem the gift in one ofseveral ways of redemption, and billing the gift giver according to thegift recipient's way of redemption of the gift, after the interactivelyguiding.

There is further provided in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention a system for gifting, including a gift generator forenabling a gift giver to generate an electronic gift for a giftrecipient, a gift redeemer for enabling the gift recipient to redeem thegift in one of several ways of redemption, and an invoice manager forbilling the gift giver according to the gift recipient's way ofredemption of the gift.

There is yet further provided in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention a computer-readable storage medium storing programcode for causing a computing device to interactively enable anelectronic gift giver to generate a gift for a gift recipient, tointeractively guide the gift recipient to redeem the gift in one ofseveral ways of redemption, and to bill the gift giver according to thegift recipient's way of redemption of the gift.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be more fully understood and appreciated fromthe following detailed description, taken in conjunction with thedrawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an illustration of a user interface for generating amulti-selection gift, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are illustrations of user interfaces for redeeming amulti-selection gift, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is an illustration of a user interface for specifying productoptions for a multi-selection gift, in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 4 is a simplified block diagram of an e-commerce system thatsupports multi-selection gifting, in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 5 is a simplified block diagram of various components of thee-commerce system illustrated in FIG. 4, in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a simplified flowchart of an overall method formulti-selection gifting, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 7 is a simplified flowchart of a method for selecting a list ofgift items to be included in a multi-selection gift, in accordance withan embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a simplified illustration of a multi-selection gift, inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a simplified flowchart of a method for generating giftredemption options for a multi-selection gift, in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a simplified flowchart of a method for redeeming a simplegift, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a simplified flowchart of a method for redeeming a multi-itemgift, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a simplified flowchart of a method for redeeming an N-itemgift, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a simplified flowchart of a method for redeeming a costlimited gift, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a simplified flowchart of a method for redeeming azero-balance cost-limited gift, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention; and

FIG. 15 is a simplified block diagram of a sample server-clientarchitecture for implementing multi-selection gifts, in accordance withan embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Aspects of the present invention concern inter alia a multi-selectiongift, which provides the gift recipient with a list of gift choices toselect and rules governing the permitted selections. Each gift choicemay be either a single product or service, or a group of multipleproducts or services. The rules governing the permitted selection maydesignate a constraint such as the maximum number of gift choices thatmay be selected, or the maximum cost of gift choices that may beselected, or a gaming constraint such as a winning selection set orselection order, or such other constraint. The gift recipient thus hasflexibility in selecting his gift choices, subject to constraints set bythe gift giver.

Aspects of the present invention concern inter alia methods and systemsfor guiding a gift giver in generating a multi-selection gift, andmethods and systems for guiding a gift recipient in redeeming hismulti-selection gift.

In this regard, reference is now made to FIG. 1, which is anillustration of a user interface for generating a multi-selection gift,in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Shown in FIG.1 is a web page 100 displaying a multi-selection gift having a list offour gift choices, as follows.

-   -   1. The first gift choice 110 is a group of two items; namely, a        sport coat 111 and matching pants 112.    -   2. The second gift choice 120 is a dress shirt.    -   3. The third gift choice 130 is a sport shirt.    -   4. The fourth gift choice 140 is a $100 gift certificate.        It is noted that each of the items in the four gift choices is        manufactured by a different merchant, as indicated in the item        descriptions in FIG. 1. As shown near the top of web page 100,        the gift giver has added a constraint 150 that the recipient may        select up to two of the four gift choices. Alternatively, the        gift giver may add a constraint 160 that the total cost of the        gifts selected by the recipient does not exceed a designated        amount, such as $300.

Items may be grouped together into a single gift choice, as in giftchoice 110 by checking the desired items and clicking on control 171.Grouped items may be ungrouped by clicking on control 172. Thus it willbe appreciated by those skilled in the art that groups may be flexiblygenerated at will. In addition, groups may be nested as groups andsub-groups.

A gift giver may include multiple quantities of an item in amulti-selection gift, as indicated by boxes 180. In turn, the giftrecipient may select multiple units of the item, from one item up to thequantity set by the gift giver.

Messages, such as message 185, may be added to the multi-selection gift.Additional features of the user interface illustrated in FIG. 1 aredescribed hereinbelow.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, amulti-selection gift may be sent to multiple gift recipients. Themultiple recipients may be separately addressed, or may be part of alist. Such list may be inter alia an e-mail list, or an organization, ora list of people with the same birthdays or close-together birthdays.

Reference is now made to FIGS. 2A and 2B, which are illustrations ofuser interfaces for redeeming a multi-selection gift, in accordance withan embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2A corresponds to themulti-selection gift illustrated in FIG. 1, with a constraint ofselecting two of the four gift choices. FIG. 2B corresponds to a similarmulti-selection gift, with a constraint on total cost of the gift choiceselections.

Shown in FIG. 2A is a web page 200 displaying a multi-selection giftthat was sent from Mom to Michael on the occasion of starting a new job.The multi-selection gift includes the four gift choices shown in FIG. 1.Each gift choice may be selected by clicking on a select box 250corresponding to the gift choice, and a selected gift choice may beun-selected by clicking again on its select box 250. By default,initially none of the gift choices are selected. As shown in FIG. 2A,the gift recipient has currently made one gift selection; namely, giftgroup 110 with the sport coat 111 and the pants 112.

The multi-selection gift in FIG. 2A has a constraint on the number ofgift choices that may be selected by the gift recipient, correspondingto constraint 150 from FIG. 1. A counter 251 shows the number ofremaining selections. As shown in FIG. 2A, counter 251 indicates thatcurrently one selection remains. Counter 251 is used to guide the giftrecipient in making gift selections that are within the constraint setby the gift giver.

The multi-selection gift includes a message 270 from the gift giver.

Items 111 and 112 that are grouped into a single gift choice may beun-grouped by clicking on an un-group box 280. The recipient has theability to re-group items, but he can only do so if the items beingre-grouped were originally grouped together. Thus the recipient canre-group all of an original group of items or a subset thereof, butcannot generate new groupings.

Shown in FIG. 2B is a similar web page 200 displaying a multi-selectiongift that was sent from Mom to Michael on the occasion of buying a newhome. The multi-selection gift includes four gift choices, as follows:

-   -   1. The first gift choice 210 is a coffee maker.    -   2. The second gift choice 220 is a group of two items; namely, a        comforter 221 and a duvet 222.    -   3. The third gift choice 230 is an auto-generated gift        certificate.    -   4. The fourth gift choice 240 is a food processor.        Each gift choice may be selected by clicking on a select box 250        corresponding to the gift choice, and a selected gift choice may        be un-selected by clicking again on its select box 250. By        default, initially none of the gift choices are selected. As        shown in FIG. 2B, the gift recipient has currently selected gift        choices 210 and 230.

The multi-selection gift in FIG. 2B has a constraint on the total costof the gift choices that may be selected, as set by the gift giver usinga constraint such as constraint 160 from FIG. 1. Gift certificate 230 isautomatically generated in the amount of the unused balance. Thus, asshown in FIG. 2B, after selecting gift choice 210, the unused balance ofthe multi-selection gift of $97.95 is converted into gift certificate230.

A counter 261 shows the balance remaining with the gift recipient'scurrent selections. Since the gift recipient has selected giftcertificate 230 as a gift choice selection, any remaining balance isautomatically converted into gift certificate 230, and thus counter 261indicates that currently the balance remaining is $0.00. Had the giftrecipient not selected gift certificate 230, then counter 261 wouldindicate a balance remaining of $97.95. Counter 261 is used to guide thegift recipient in making gift selections that are within the total costconstraint.

The multi-selection gift includes a message 270 from the gift giver.Items 221 and 222 that are grouped into a single gift choice may beun-grouped by clicking on an un-group box 280. The recipient has theability to re-group items, but he can only do so if the items beingre-grouped where originally grouped together. Thus the recipient canre-group all of an original group of items or a subset thereof, butcannot generate new groupings.

In alternative embodiments of the present invention, redemption of amulti-selection gift may be randomly or conditionally tied to a contest,a multi-selection gift may be more than one-time limited redeemable ormore than one-time unlimited redeemable, or a multi-selection gift maybe demo-only and not redeemable.

Reference is now made to FIG. 3, which is an illustration of a userinterface for specifying product options for a multi-selection gift, inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3corresponds to the multi-selection gift in FIGS. 1 and 2A. Shown in FIG.3 is a web page 300 enabling a gift recipient to specify product optionsfor gift choices he has selected. As seen in FIG. 3, a gift recipienthas selected two gift choices; namely gift choices 110 and 130 fromFIG. 1. This is consistent with the gift giver's constraint 150 ofselecting up to two gift choices. Gift choice 110 is a grouped choiceincluding coat 111 and pants 112, and gift choice 130 is a sport shirt.The selected coat 111, pants 112 and shirt 130 have respective productoptions 311, 312 and 330 associated therewith, as indicated in FIG. 3.The product options specify color and size dimensions. The giftrecipient is able to specify the options he desires using drop-downmenus 340.

Reference is now made to FIG. 4, which is a simplified block diagram ofan e-commerce system that supports multi-selection gifting, inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Shown in FIG. 4is an e-commerce server computer 400, which interacts with a pluralityof merchant computers 410, at least one gift giver computer 420, and atleast one gift recipient computer 430. E-commerce server computer 400enables merchants 410 to publish and showcase their catalogues ofmerchandise on a single integrated web site, which functions as avirtual shopping mall. Users browsing the web site are able to purchaseone or more items of merchandise from any of merchants 410. Usersinteract with the web site via a user interface 440, and merchantsinteract with the web site via a merchant interface 450.

E-commerce server computer 400 is represented as a single computer inFIG. 4 for the sake of clarity. However, e-commerce server computer 400may be embodied in a single computer, or distributed as multiplecomputers communicating with one another. In the embodiment shown inFIG. 15, for example, e-commerce server computer 400 includes multipleapplication servers, administration servers, search servers and loadbalancers.

Generally, users of e-commerce server computer 400 subscribe to thesystem by providing basic user information including inter alia name,physical address, e-mail address, billing information, shippinginformation, and personal information that may be used forauthenticating the subscriber.

A merchandise database 460 stores records for each item of merchandisepublished by any of merchants 410. Each record includes (i) a stockkeeping unit (SKU) for the item of merchandise, (ii) a description ofthe item, (iii) a description of product options for the item, (iv) aprice of the item with and without the product options, (v) shippinginformation for the item including shipping cost, and (vi) the merchantwho provides the item. The SKU functions as a unique identifier for theitem of merchandise. The description generally includes a thumbnailimage of the item and a text description.

Merchants 410 may also be providers of services and, accordingly, theitems of merchandise published by such merchants are in the nature ofservices.

User interface 440 enables users to browse merchandise database 460,search for desired items and services, and purchase desired items andservices on-line. Merchant interface 450 enables merchants tocontinually add new items of merchandise to merchandise database 460,remove old items of merchandise, and modify existing items ofmerchandise.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, users maycreate and purchase multi-selection gifts for other users. Amulti-selection gift has a set of items or services from one or moremerchants, from which the gift recipient may select one or more of theitems of services as his gift. Specifically, a multi-selection giftincludes (i) a gift recipient, (ii) a plurality of merchandise itemsSKUs, and (iii) at least one rule constraining the gift recipient'sselections. Examples of gift selection rules are inter alia as follows.

-   -   Allow the recipient to select all items from the multi-selection        gift.    -   Allow the recipient to select only one item from the        multi-selection gift.    -   Allow the recipient to select up to a specified limit of items        from the multi-selection gift.    -   Allow the recipient to select items from the multi-selection        gift up to a specified total cost.    -   Define groupings of the items, each group including at least one        of the items from the multi-selection gift, and allow the        recipient to select one of the groups.    -   Logical AND/OR combinations of two or more of the above        selection rules.

Multi-selection gifts are stored in an e-gift database 470. An e-giftgenerator 480 enables gift giver 420 to generate a multi-selection gift.For example, e-gift generator 480 may employ a user interface such asthat shown in FIG. 1 to enable gift giver 420 to generate hismulti-selection gift. When gift giver 420 generates the gift, an e-giftsupport service 485 notifies gift recipient 430 and provides him with anidentifier for the gift. The identifier for the gift is used to locatethe record for the gift within e-gift database 470.

Gift recipient 430 may or may not be a subscriber to e-commerce servercomputer 400. In one embodiment of the present invention, gift recipient430 may be required to subscribe in order to redeem his multi-selectiongift. In another embodiment of the present invention, gift recipient 430may be enabled to redeem his gift without subscribing to the system.

E-gift support service 485 enables gift recipient 430 to redeem hisgift. Gift recipient 430 presents his gift identifier to e-gift redeemer490. E-gift support service 485 may authenticate gift recipient 430based on subscriber information provided by e-gift recipient 430 at thetime of subscription to e-commerce server 400, or by one or morecriteria specified by gift giver 420.

In accordance with the present invention, an e-gift redeemer 490interactively guides gift recipient 430 in choosing items from hismulti-selection gift in compliance with the rules set by gift giver 420.For example, e-gift redeemer 490 may employ a user interface such asthat shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B to guide gift recipient 430 in making hisgift selections. In accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention, user interface 440 displays the gift items with “Select”controls 250 that the recipient can independently select or un-select.If gift giver 420 has indicated that gift recipient 430 may select allof the gift items, then all of the “Select” controls are auto-selectedby default. Gift recipient 430 may then un-select items that he does notwant.

If gift giver 420 has indicated that gift recipient 430 may select up toa prescribed number of items, then all of the “Select” controls areun-selected by default. User interface 440 displays a counter 251 sothat gift recipient may easily see how many selections he has made, orhow many permitted selections remain.

If gift giver 420 has indicated that gift recipient 430 may select itemsup to a prescribed cost, then all of the “Select” controls areun-selected by default. User interface 440 displays a counter 261 with arunning unspent balance, or alternatively a running total of currentcost. In one embodiment of the present invention, gift giver 420 maydesignate that any unspent amount below the prescribed cost beautomatically converted into a multi-vendor gift certificate. In anotherembodiment of the present invention, gift recipient 430 has an option ofcovering the additional cost that the total cost of his selected itemsexceeds the prescribed cost by gift giver 420.

If gift giver 420 has grouped together items of the multi-selectiongroup into prescribed groupings, then user interface 440 displays theitems grouped together as a single selection, such as selection 110 inFIG. 2A and selection 220 in FIG. 2B.

After gift recipient 430 has made his selection of items from themulti-selection gift in compliance with the gift's rules, and confirmedhis selections, a transaction manager 495 aggregates the selected giftsaccording to merchant. Transaction manager 495 issues purchase orders tomerchants 410 according to the aggregated selected gifts. Transactionmanager 495 also issues an invoice for all of the selected gifts to giftgiver 420. The selected gifts are then shipped to gift recipient 430,and the multi-selection gift is marked as “redeemed” in e-gift database470.

Reference is now made to FIG. 5, which is a simplified block diagram ofvarious components of the e-commerce system illustrated in FIG. 4, inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Shown in FIG. 5are sub-components of e-gift generator 480, e-gift support service 485,e-gift redeemer 490, and transaction manager 495.

E-gift generator 480 includes a search engine 505 for searchingmerchandise database 460 to locate desired items of merchandise ordesired services. E-gift generator 480 further includes a gift basketmanager 510 for collecting the gift choices that the gift giver includesin his multi-selection gift. Gift basket manager 510 managespresentation of the gift choices, including a display order for thechoices, an optional background, and optional multimedia includingmusic, images and video. E-gift generator 480 further includes a giftoptions manager 515 for generating redemption options; i.e., gift rules.E-gift generator further includes a checkout manager 520 for providingtools that enable the gift giver to specify the gift recipient(s),timing and method of delivery, and personalized greetings and messages.Finally, e-gift generator 480 includes an order manager 525 for managingfinancial details of the gift giver's purchase. Order manager 525 alsoobtains merchant coupons and rebate information, for possible use whenthe multi-selection gift is redeemed.

E-gift support service 485 includes tools for ensuring gift integrity,including inventory checking and gift expiration date. E-gift supportservice 485 includes a notifications manager 530 for notifying the giftrecipient that a multi-selection gift has been sent to him by the giftgiver, for notifying the gift giver that the gift has been redeemed orrejected, for alerting the gift giver that the recipient has not yetredeemed his gift after a certain period of time, for enabling therecipient to send a message back to the gift giver, and for alerting thesender and the recipient if any of the gift choices are lost due toproduct unavailability. E-gift support service 485 also includes aninventory manager 535 for managing the inventory adjustments associatedwith the multi-selection gift. E-gift support service 485 also includesan e-gift manager 540 for providing tools that enable the gift giver tomanage a sent multi-selection gift, including inter alia re-addressingthe gift, modifying the contents of the gift, modifying the redemptionrules of the gift, cancelling the gift, re-issuing the gift, and cloningthe gift.

E-gift redeemer 490 includes a gift basket manager 545 for presentingthe gift giver's gift to the recipient, and for collecting the giftselections made by the recipient. Gift basket manager 545 managespresentation of the gift choices, including a display order for thechoices, an optional display indicating how the recipient's currentselections compare with constraints defined by the gift giver, anoptional background, and optional multimedia including music, images andvideo. E-gift redeemer 490 also includes a gift options manager 550 forpresenting and specifying product options, as applicable, associatedwith the recipient's selected items, such as size, color, andmonogramming, as shown in FIG. 3. E-gift redeemer 490 includes acheckout manager 555 for obtaining delivery information including atleast one physical address, for optionally obtaining payment informationfrom the gift recipient to cover any overcharge, and for managing thedatabase transaction associated with the gift recipient's redemption ofhis multi-selection gift.

Transaction manager 495 includes an invoice manager 560 for invoicingthe gift giver based upon the gift recipient's gift selections, and anorder tracker 565 for tracking the gifts ordered by the gift recipient.

Reference is now made to FIG. 6, which is a simplified flowchart of anoverall method for multi-selection gifting, in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention. The method of FIG. 6 is performedby an e-commerce system, such as e-commerce computer server 400 of FIG.4. At step 605 the e-commerce system receives selections from a giftgiver for generating a multi-selection gift, intended for a designatedgift recipient. Step 605 is described in detail below with reference toFIG. 7. At step 610 the e-commerce system receives from the gift giver(i) gift redemption options, also referred to as gift rules, (ii)payment information, and (iii) notification information. Notificationinformation includes inter alia recipient addressing, notification date,gift message, and gift presentation options such as background, videoclips and sound clips. Specifying gift redemption options at step 610 isdescribed in detail below with reference to FIG. 9. At step 615,information describing the generated multi-selection gift is storedwithin a gift database, such as e-gift database 470 of FIG. 4. At step620 the e-commerce system notifies the gift recipient of hismulti-selection gift, and sends him an identifier that he may presentfor redemption of his gift. The gift identifier is used to locate theinformation for the multi-selection gift within the gift database.Notification may be inter alia by way of a link sent in an e-mail or ina text message, where the link includes an identifier.

At step 625 the system receives the gift identifier from the giftrecipient, who wishes to redeem his gift, authenticates the giftrecipient, determines that the gift is still redeemable, and locates themulti-selection gift information within the gift database. At step 630the system interactively guides the gift recipient in selecting one ormore items of merchandise from the items in the multi-selection gift, inaccordance with the rules of the gift as prescribed by the gift giver.Step 630 is described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 10-14.

At step 635 the gift recipient specifies product options, as applicable,for the gifts he selected at step 630. Product options may include interalia size, color and monogramming, as shown in FIG. 3. At step 640 thesystem aggregates the items selected by the gift recipient according tomerchant. At step 645 the system generates purchase orders with the giftgiver's payment methods and any applicable coupons discount codesprovided by the gift giver. It is noted that the gift giver's paymentmethod may vary from item to item if more than one gift choice isredeemed, depending upon the merchant's requirements. The system thenissues the purchase orders to the merchants. At step 650 the systemissues an invoice to the gift giver for all of the selected items. Atstep 655 the selected items are shipped to the gift recipient. Themulti-selection gift is then marked as “redeemed” in the gift database.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the invoice isissued to the gift giver at step 650, after the gift recipient has madehis gift choice selections to redeem his multi-selection gift. As such,the gift giver is not billed until the recipient redeems his gift. Asmentioned hereinabove, prior art gifting technologies, in distinction tothe present invention, bill the gift giver at the time of purchase ofhis gift.

Reference is now made to FIG. 7, which is a simplified flowchart of amethod for selecting a list of gift choices to be included in amulti-selection gift, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention. The flowchart of FIG. 7 corresponds to step 605 from FIG. 6.The flowchart of FIG. 7 is preferably implemented by a user interface,such as the user interface illustrated in FIG. 1.

At step 705 the gift giver finds an item or an item collection toinclude in his multi-selection gift. In accordance with an embodiment ofthe present invention, the gift giver is assisted in locatingappropriate gift items by search engines, guided navigation, historicaland demographic data, shopping assistants, and other such tools. Inaddition, pre-built lists of gifts are presented to the gift giver forpossible use. Such pre-built lists may be generated by merchants, othercustomers, by operators of e-commerce system 400, and by free-lance giftcreators. Items from pre-built lists may be selectively excluded by thegift giver from the multi-selection gift.

At step 710 the gift giver adds the item or item collection to the giftlist for his multi-selection gift. At step 715 the gift giver decideswhether or not to group the items in the multi-selection gift into oneor more groups. Referring to FIG. 1, grouping is accomplished by usinggroup and un-group controls 171 and 172, respectively.

If the gift giver decides to group items, then at step 720 the giftgiver generates the groups. Each group can have 1 to N items, where N isthe total number of items in the gift list. Any item in the gift listcan be a member of one or more groups. The gift list may have bothgrouped and ungrouped selections. The default for a multi-selection giftis for the items to be un-grouped. The gift giver may specify whether ornot the gift recipient can break apart, or “un-group” a group selectionwhen he redeems his multi-selection gift. Referring again to FIG. 1, acontrol 190 may be set by the gift giver to enable the gift recipient tobreak apart a group of items.

In this regard, reference is now made to FIG. 8, which is a simplifiedillustration of a multi-selection gift 800, in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention. Gift 800 includes a gift list, eachmember of the gift list being a single item or a group of items. Themulti-selection gift 800 of FIG. 8 includes un-grouped individualproduct/service items 810 and grouped product/service items 820. Themulti-service gift shown in FIG. 1 has such un-grouped and grouped giftchoices. For example, grouped items may include a matching jacket andpants, and un-grouped items may include a variety of shirts and ties.The items in a group may be from different merchants. Moreover, groupscan be nested as groups and sub-groups.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that themulti-selection gift illustrated in FIG. 8 is exemplary, and is notmeant to imply any specific limitations or storage configurations orpresentation methods.

Reference is now made to FIG. 9, which is a simplified flowchart of amethod for generating gift redemption options for a multi-selectiongift, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Theflowchart of FIG. 9 corresponds to step 610 from FIG. 6. At step 905 adetermination is made whether the gift list for the multi-selectiongift, as generated via the flowchart of FIG. 7, has only a singlechoice. A single choice may be either a single un-grouped item, or asingle group of items. If so, then processing proceeds to step A forpost-processing, as described hereinbelow, and then to step 910 wherethe gift is sent as a simple gift. Redemption of a simple gift isdescribed below with reference to FIG. 10.

If the multi-selection gift has more than a single choice, as determinedat step 905, then the gift giver decides at step 915 whether or not thegift recipient can select all choices in the gift list. If so,processing proceeds to step A for post-processing, and then to step 920where the gift is sent as a multi-item gift. Redemption of a multi-itemgift is described below with reference to FIG. 11.

If the gift giver decides at step 915 that the gift recipient cannotselect all choices, then the gift giver decides at step 925 whether thegift recipient is to be limited to selecting a maximum number, N>1, ofchoices in the gift list. Referring back to FIG. 1, the gift giver hasdesignated a maximum of N=2 selections. If the gift giver does not wantto permit more than one selection, then at step 930 the parameter N,corresponding to the number of choices that the gift recipient may make,is set to N=1. Processing then proceeds to step A for post-processing,and then to step 935 where the gift is sent as an N-limited gift (withN=1 in this case). Redemption of an N-limited gift is described belowwith reference to FIG. 12.

If the gift giver decides at step 925 that the recipient may select upto N>1 choices in the gift list, then at step 940 the gift giver decideswhether to set a limit on the total cost of the items selected.Referring back to FIG. 1, the gift giver may designate a maximum totalcost, such as $300. In accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention, a maximum total cost figure is auto-suggested to the giftgiver based on the items currently included in the multi-selection gift.If the gift giver does not want to limit the total cost, then at step945 the parameter N above is set to the limit designated by the giftgiver. Processing then proceeds to step A for post-processing, and thento step 935 where the gift is sent as an N-limited gift. Redemption ofan N-limited gift is described below with reference to FIG. 12.

If the gift giver decides at step 940 to set a limit on the total costof the items selected, than at step 950 the gift giver designates a costlimit. At step 955 the parameter N above is set to the total number ofchoices in the gift list. At step 960 the gift giver decides whether ornot the balance of the multi-selection gift may be converted to a giftcertificate. Referring back to FIG. 1, the gift giver may click on acontrol 141 in order to have the unused balance of the gift amountconverted into a gift certificate for the gift recipient. If the giftgiver does not want to have the unused balance converted into a giftcertificate, then processing proceeds to step A for post-processing, andat step 965 the gift is sent to the recipient as a cost-limited gift.Redemption of cost-limited gifts is described below with reference toFIG. 13.

Finally, if the gift giver decides at step 960 that the balance of themulti-selection gift may be converted to a gift certificate, then atstep 970 the gift is sent as a zero-balance cost-limited gift.Redemption of zero-balance cost-limited gifts is described below withreference to FIG. 14.

Post-processing step A includes three sub-steps, as follows. At step 975the gift giver provides delivery information, including timing andmethod of delivery, for one or more gift recipients. The gift giver maychoose from a variety of delivery media, including inter alia a physicalgift card, e-mail delivery and text message delivery. At step 980 thegift giver optionally adds gift presentation features such as imagebackground, video clips and sound clips. The gift giver also optionallyadds one or more personalized greetings and messages to his gift. Atstep 985 the gift giver provides his payment information, to pay for themulti-selection gift when it is redeemed.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the decisionsequence illustrated in FIG. 9 is exemplary, and is not intended toimply a fixed decision sequence. Moreover, not all decisions in FIG. 9and their related processes need be implemented, and additionaldecisions and related processes may be used instead of or in addition tothose illustrated in FIG. 9.

Reference is now made to FIG. 10, which is a simplified flowchart of amethod for redeeming a simple gift, in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present invention. The flowchart of FIG. 10 corresponds to one caseof step 630 from FIG. 6. At step 905 the simple gift is displayed to thegift recipient. The one choice of the simple gift is selected bydefault. At step 1010 a determination is made whether the simple gift isa group of items. If not, no further selections are required on the partof the gift recipient, and the gift is redeemed by proceeding to step635 of FIG. 6. If the simple gift is a group of items, as determined atstep 1010, then a determination is made at step 1015 whether therecipient is able to un-group the items; i.e., whether the gift giverhas given the gift recipient the option of un-grouping the items. Theability to un-group items is generally indicated by an un-group control,such as control 280 shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B.

If the recipient does not have the option to un-group the grouped items,then no further selections are required on the part of the giftrecipient, and the gift is redeemed by proceeding to step 635 of FIG. 6.

If the recipient is able to un-group the items, as determined at step1015, then a determination is made at step 1020 whether the recipientwishes to do so.

If so, then the items in the group are un-grouped, the gift then becomesa multi-item gift, and processing proceeds to step 630B of FIG. 6, forredemption of a multi-item gift. If not, then no further selections arerequired on the part of the gift recipient, and the gift is redeemed byproceeding to step 635 of FIG. 6.

Reference is now made to FIG. 11, which is a simplified flowchart of amethod for redeeming a multi-item gift, in accordance with an embodimentof the present invention. The flowchart of FIG. 11 corresponds to onecase of step 630 from FIG. 6. At step 1105 the multi-item gift isdisplayed to the gift recipient. By default, all items in the gift areselected.

The recipient is interactively guided in making his gift selections. Atstep 1110 the gift recipient reviews the next choice in the gift list.At step 1115 a determination is made whether the choice being reviewedis part of a group of items.

If not, then at step 1120 the recipient decides whether to leave thegift choice selected, or else un-select it. At step 1125 a determinationis made whether or not there are more gift choices to review. If so,processing returns to step 1110. If not, processing advances to step 635of FIG. 6.

If the gift choice being reviewed by the gift recipient is part of agroup of items, as determined at step 1115, then a further determinationis made at step 1130 whether or not the recipient may un-group the itemsgrouped together; i.e., whether or not the gift giver has enabled thegift recipient to un-group the items.

If not, the method moves to step 1120 as above. If so, the giftrecipient decides at step 1135 whether or not he wishes to un-group thegroup of items. Generally, the gift recipient un-groups a group of itemsby clicking on an un-group control, such as control 280 in FIGS. 2A and2B.

If not, the method moves to step 1120 as above. If so, the items in thegroup are un-grouped, and marked by default as selected. The method thenreturns to step 1110, for sequentially reviewing the now un-groupeditems.

Reference is now made to FIG. 12, which is a simplified flowchart of amethod for redeeming an N-limited multi-selection gift, in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention. The flowchart of FIG. 12corresponds to one case of step 630 from FIG. 6. At step 1205 anN-limited gift is displayed to the gift recipient. By default, none ofthe items in the gift are selected. Referring back to FIGS. 2A and 2B,the four selection boxes corresponding to the four gift choices areinitially all un-selected.

The recipient is interactively guided in making his gift selections. Atstep 1210 the gift recipient reviews the next choice in the gift list.At step 1215 a determination is made whether or not the gift choicebeing reviewed is part of a group of items. If not, then at step 1220the recipient decides whether or not to select the gift choice. Therecipient selects a gift choice by clicking in the corresponding selectbox, such as select boxes 250 of FIGS. 2A and 2B. At step 1225 aselection counter, such as counter 251 of FIG. 2A, is updated to reflectthe number of gifts the recipient has already selected. The selectioncounter may be a running total of the number of gifts that the recipienthas selected thus far, or a running balance of the number of selectionsremaining, or both.

At step 1230 a determination is made whether or not the designated limiton the number of selections has been reached. If so, at step 1235 therecipient is informed of such, and advised that he has the option ofselecting additional items if he agrees to cover the additional costbeyond the designated gift limit. At step 1240 a determination is madewhether or not the recipient has finished reviewing all of the giftchoices.

If not, then the method returns to step 1210 to process the next giftchoice. If so, then processing continues at step 635 of FIG. 6. If thelimit on the number of selections made thus far has not been reached, asdetermined at step 1230, then the method advances directly from step1230 to step 1240.

If the gift giver has included multiple quantities of items in amulti-selection gift, such as by entering quantities greater than one inboxes 180 of FIG. 1, then the gift recipient may select one or moreunits of such items, up to the quantities set by the gift giver. In oneembodiment of the present invention, each unit of an item selectedcounts as one selection. In another embodiment of the present invention,selecting as many units as allowed by the gift giver counts as a singleselection.

If the gift choice currently being reviewed by the gift recipient ispart of a group of items, as determined at step 1215, then at step 1245a further determination is made whether or not the items of the groupmay be un-grouped; i.e., whether or not the gift giver has enabled thegift recipient to un-group the items.

If not, then the method moves to step 1220 as above. If so, then at step1250 the recipient decides whether or not to un-group the group ifitems.

If not, then the method moves to step 1220 as above. If so, then at step1255 the items of the group are un-grouped as individual items andmarked as un-selected. In one embodiment of the present invention, ifthe gift giver un-groups a grouped gift choice, then subsequentselections of any number of those items, up to the full set of itemsbelonging to the original group still counts as only one gift choice. Inan alternative embodiment of the present invention, such subsequentselections count as separate gift choices. The method then returns tostep 1210, to sequentially process the now un-grouped items.

When the recipient agrees to cover the additional cost of his giftselections, above the limit designated by the gift giver, then theselection counter used at step 1225 may indicate the amount of cost thatthe recipient has to cover if he wishes to proceed with his currentselections.

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, step 1235 mayalso provide an option for having the gift giver arrange to cover theadditional cost. Specifically, a request to the gift giver is sent viae-gift support service 485, with release of the gift order delayed untilapproval is given by the gift giver via e-gift support service 485. Ifthe gift giver denies the request, the gift order is cancelled and thegift recipient is given another opportunity to redeem his gift.

Reference is now made to FIG. 13, which is a simplified flowchart of amethod for redeeming a cost limited gift, in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention. The flowchart of FIG. 13corresponds to one case of step 630 from FIG. 6. At step 1305 thecost-limited gift is displayed to the gift recipient. By default, noneof the gift choices are selected.

The recipient is interactively guided in making his gift selections. Atstep 1310 the recipient reviews the next gift choice from the gift listgenerated by the gift giver in the flowchart of FIG. 7. At step 1315 adetermination is made whether or not the current gift choice beingreviewed is part of a group of items. If not, then at step 1320 the giftrecipient decides whether or not to select the current gift choice. Atstep 1325 a cost counter is updated, based on the recipient's selectionsthus far. The cost counter may be a running total cost for the currentlyselected goods, or a running balance of the amount left for spendingsuch as counter 261 of FIG. 2B. At step 1330 a determination is madewhether or not the designated cost limit has been reached.

If so, at step 1335 the recipient is informed of such, and advised thathe has the option of selecting additional items if he agrees to coverthe additional cost beyond the designated gift limit. At step 1340 adetermination is made whether or not the recipient has finishedreviewing the gift choices.

If so, then processing proceeds to step 635 of FIG. 6. If not, thenprocessing returns to step 1310 to review the next gift choice. If it isdetermined at step 1330 that the designated cost limit has not beenreached, then processing advances directly from step 1330 to step 1340.

If it is determined at step 1315 that the current gift choice beingreviewed by the recipient is part of a group of items, then a furtherdetermination is made at step 1345 whether or not the recipient has theability to un-group the items; i.e., whether or not the gift giver hasenabled the recipient to un-group.

If not, then the method proceeds to step 1320 as above. If so, then therecipient decides at step 1350 whether or not he wishes to un-group thegroup of items.

If not, then the method proceeds to step 1320 as above. If so, then theitems of the group are un-grouped at step 1355, and each individual itemis marked as un-selected. The method then returns to step 1310, wherethe now un-grouped items are sequentially reviewed.

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the cost counterused at step 1325 to ensure that the gift recipient does not go over thegift limit may be implemented so as to hide the cost of the gift items.In this alternative embodiment, the cost counter only indicates theoverage by which the total cost of the recipient's current selectionsexceeds the limit designated by the gift giver. When the recipientagrees to cover the additional cost of his gift selections, then theindicated overage is also the amount of cost that the recipient has tocover if he wishes to proceed with his current selections.

As indicated above with reference to FIG. 12, in another alternativeembodiment of the present invention, step 1335 may also provide anoption for having the gift giver arrange to cover the additional cost.

Reference is now made to FIG. 14, which is a simplified flowchart of amethod for redeeming a zero-balance cost-limited gift, in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention. The flowchart of FIG. 14corresponds to one case of step 630 from FIG. 6. At step 1405 azero-balance cost-limited gift is displayed to the recipient. Bydefault, none of the gift choices are selected, and an auto-generatedgift certificate is generated. The amount of the auto-generated giftcertificate may be left empty, or filled in dynamically with the currentbalance, which initially is the entire cost limit.

The method interactively guides the recipient in making his selections.At step 1410 the next choice in the gift list is reviewed by therecipient for possible selection. At step 1415 a determination is madewhether or not the choice currently being reviewed is part of a group ofitems.

If not, then at step 1420 the recipient decides whether or not to selectthe gift choice. At step 1425 a cost counter is updated to reflect thecost of the gift selections the recipient has made thus far. The costcounter may be a running total of the cost of the gift selections made,or a running balance of the remaining amount left to be spent. At step1430 a determination is made whether or not the cost limit designated bythe gift giver has been reached.

If so, at step 1435 the recipient is informed of such, and advised thathe has the option of selecting additional items if he agrees to coverthe additional cost beyond the designated gift limit. At step 1440 thegift certificate for converting the balance is set to an amount of $0,reflecting that no balance is left. The method then advances to step1450 where a determination is made whether or not the gift recipient hasfinished reviewing the gift choices.

If so, then processing proceeds to step 635 of FIG. 6. If not, then themethod returns to step 1410 where the next gift choice is reviewed. Ifit is determined at step 1430 that the cost limit has not been reached,then at step 1445 the unused balance is applied to the gift certificate.The gift certificate is marked as selected. As the recipient continuesto select gift choices the amount of the gift certificate is changed toreflect the unused balance. If the recipient un-selects all of the giftchoices, then the amount of the gift certificate may be left empty, ormay reflect the entire limit set by the gift giver.

If the gift giver has included multiple quantities of items in amulti-selection gift, such as by entering quantities greater than one inboxes 180 of FIG. 1, then the gift recipient may select one or moreunits of such items, up to the quantities set by the gift giver. Byselecting fewer units than the quantities set by the gift giver, theunused balance, and hence the gift certificate, is higher.

If it is determined at step 1415 that the current gift choice beingreviewed is part of a group of items, then at step 1455 a furtherdetermination is made whether or not the gift recipient is able toun-group the group items; i.e., whether or not the gift giver hasenabled the gift recipient to un-group.

If not, then the method proceeds to step 1420 as above. If so, then atstep 1460 the recipient decides whether or not he wishes to un-group thegroup of items.

If not, then the method proceeds to step 1420 as above. If so, than atstep 1465 the items of the group are un-grouped, and the method proceedsto step 1410 where the now un-grouped items may be reviewed in sequence.

As mentioned above with respect to FIG. 13, in an alternative embodimentof the present invention, the cost counter used at step 1425 to ensurethat the gift recipient does not go over the gift limit may beimplemented so as to hide the cost of the gift items. In thisalternative embodiment, the cost counter only indicates the overage bywhich the total cost of the recipient's current selections exceeds thelimit designated by the gift giver. When the recipient agrees to coverthe additional cost of his gift selections, then the indicated overageis also the amount of cost that the recipient has to cover if he wishesto proceed with his current selections.

In another alternative embodiment of the present invention, step 1435may also provide an option for having the gift giver arrange to coverthe additional cost.

FIGS. 11-14 described hereinabove correspond to methods of giftredemption for different types of multi-selection gifts. These methodsenable the gift recipient to sequentially review the list of giftchoices in his multi-selection gift, and select some or all of thechoices, while remaining within the constraints set by the gift giver.It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that although themethods of FIGS. 11-14 advance through the list of gift choicessequentially, the gift recipient may go back and un-select gift choiceselections that he made earlier. Thus, if the gift recipient finds thathis desired selections exceed the limits set by the gift giver, therecipient may un-select previously made selections in order to be ableto add new selections. Similarly, if the gift recipient finds that agift choice he sees at a later stage in the review sequence is adesirable substitute for a gift choice he selected earlier, therecipient may undo his earlier selection. Thus, although the methods ofFIGS. 11-14 guide the gift recipient through his gift choices in asequential fashion, this does not limit the gift recipient from makingselections out of order and from changing previously made selections.

The recipient has the ability to un-group items that were groupedtogether by the gift giver. The recipient also has limited ability tore-group items, but he can only do so if the items being re-groupedwhere originally grouped together by the gift giver. Thus the recipientcan re-group all of an original group of items or a subset thereof, butcannot generate new groupings.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the systems andmethods of the present invention may be implemented within a variety ofserver-client network architectures. In this regard, reference is nowmade to FIG. 15, which is a simplified block diagram of a sampleserver-client architecture for implementing multi-selection gifts, inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention. On the serverside, the architecture in FIG. 15 includes application servers 1511-1514managed by load balancers 1520, administration servers 1530, searchservers 1540, and three databases. The databases include a transactiondatabase for recording purchase and payment information 1551, includingthe data from e-gift database 470, a product database 1552 for storingproduct catalogue information, including the data from merchandisedatabase 460 in FIG. 4, and a tracking database 1553 for trackingcustomer orders. Application server 1511 manages transaction database1551, application server 1512 manages product database 1552, applicationserver 1513 manages tracking database 1553, and application server 1554manages search servers 1540. All of these server components are subsumedin e-commerce server computer 400.

On the client side, the architecture in FIG. 15 includes merchant clientcomputers 1560, including computers 410 from FIG. 4, gift giver clientcomputers 1570, including computer 420, and gift recipient clientcomputers 1580, including computer 430. Merchant client computers 1560have two-way connections with administration servers 1530. Gift giverclient computers 1570 have two-way connections with administrationservers 1530 and with load balancers 1520. Gift recipient clientcomputers 1580 have one-way connections with administration servers 1530and two-way connections with load balancers 1520.

In reading the above description, persons skilled in the art willrealize that there are many apparent variations that can be applied tothe methods and systems described. In a very general setting, themulti-selection gift of the present invention corresponds to a set ofgift choices C={c₁, c₂, . . . , c_(n)}, n>1, and the rules set by thegift giver correspond to at least one constraint of the form ƒ(S)≦x,where ƒ is a real-valued function of subsets S⊂C. To constrain themaximum number of gift choices that may be selected, the function ƒ(S)is defined as the number of gift choices in S. To constrain the totalcost of the gift choices that may be selected, the function ƒ(S) isdefined as the total cost of the gift choices in S. In these cases, thefunction ƒ is of the form ƒ(S)=Σg(c): cεS) for a real-valued function gof choices cεC. If g(c)=1 for all cεC, then ƒ(S) is the number ofchoices in S. If g(c)=the price of choice c, then ƒ(S) is the total costof the gift choices in S.

The function ƒ(S) is flexible, and may be defined so as to take intoconsideration price discounts when combinations of items are purchasedfrom the same merchant, delivery expenses and taxes. In general, theonly assumption that can be made about ƒ(S) is that ƒ is monotoneincreasing in the sense that ƒ(S₁)≦ƒ(S₂) whenever S₁ is a subset of S₂,S₁ ⊂S₂.

Monotonicity enables a sequential selection algorithm, such as thealgorithms of FIGS. 11-14 which sequentially process gift choices, tofind subsets S⊂C that satisfy the at least one constraint prescribed bythe gift giver. Specifically, starting with the empty set S=Ø,corresponding to all gift choices being un-selected, the subset S isexpanded by sequentially adding additional gift choices cεC to S one ata time, while counters are maintained of the constraint values ƒ(S) forthe current subset S. As long as the constraint values ƒ(S) remainwithin the designated constraints, x, elements cεC may be added to S.

From the above general setting it will be appreciated by those skilledin the art that the present invention has widespread application to manydiverse environments where a user has to select from among a list ofchoices, and where his selections are subject to prescribed constraints.

In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described andillustrated with reference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof. Itwill, however, be evident that the specific exemplary embodiments arenot intended to be limiting, and various modifications and changes maybe made to these embodiments without departing from the broader spiritand scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in anillustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

1. A computer processing-based method for multi-selection gifting,comprising: maintaining, by at least one of a plurality of computers, agift database comprising records for multi-selection gifts, each recordincluding a plurality of product identifiers for items of merchandise,and at least one selection rule governing selection of at least two ofthe items of merchandise; and interactively enabling, by at least one ofthe plurality of computers, a gift giver to generate a multi-selectiongift for at least one gift recipient, comprising presenting, to the giftgiver, a group of selection rules for selection by the gift giver, thegroup consisting of allowing a gift recipient to select up to aspecified total number of items of merchandise in the multi-selectiongift, allowing the gift recipient to select items of merchandise in themulti-selection gift up to a specified total cost, and at least one of:allowing the gift recipient to select all items of merchandise in themulti-selection gift, allowing the gift recipient to select only oneitem of merchandise in the multi-selection gift, or allowing the giftrecipient to select a grouping of items of merchandise from multipledefined groups of items.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein saidpresenting enables the gift giver to designate a limit on the number ofitems of merchandise that the gift recipient may select.
 3. The methodof claim 1 wherein said presenting enables the gift giver to designate alimit on the total cost of the items of merchandise that the giftrecipient may select.
 4. The method of claim 1 wherein said presentingenables the gift giver to designate a limit on the total measure of theitems of merchandise that the gift recipient may select.
 5. The methodof claim 1 wherein at least two items of merchandise are groupedtogether as a gift grouping, and wherein the at least one selection ruleallows selection of a gift grouping as a single item of merchandise. 6.The method of claim 5 wherein the at least one selection rule enablesthe gift giver to designate whether or not the gift recipient canun-group a group of items of merchandise in a gift grouping into aplurality of individual items.
 7. The method of claim 1 wherein eachrecord includes a redemption status, indicating whether or not amulti-selection gift has been redeemed by a gift recipient, the methodfurther comprising monitoring the redemption status of themulti-selection gift.
 8. A system for multi-selection gifting,comprising: a memory for storing a gift database comprising records formulti-selection gifts, each record including a plurality of productidentifiers for items of merchandise, and at least one selection rulegoverning selection of at least two of the items of merchandise; and agift generator for enabling a gift giver to generate a multi-selectiongift for at least one gift recipient, comprising a selection rulepresenter for presenting, to the gift giver, a group of selection rulesfor selection by the gift giver, the group consisting of allowing a giftrecipient to select up to a specified total number of items ofmerchandise in the multi-selection gift, allowing the gift recipient toselect items of merchandise in the multi-selection gift up to aspecified total cost, and at least one of: allowing the gift recipientto select all items of merchandise in the multi-selection gift, allowingthe gift recipient to select only one item of merchandise in themulti-selection gift, or allowing the gift recipient to select agrouping of items of merchandise from multiple defined groups of items.9. The system of claim 8 wherein each record includes a redemptionstatus, indicating whether or not a multi-selection gift has beenredeemed by a gift recipient, the system further comprising a giftmonitor for monitoring the redemption status of the multi-selection giftgenerated by said gift generator.
 10. The system of claim 8 furthercomprising a gift manager for enabling the gift giver to modify themulti-selection gift generated by said gift generator.
 11. The system ofclaim 10 wherein said gift manager enables the gift giver to modify theplurality of product identifiers for items of merchandise in themulti-selection gift.
 12. The system of claim 10 wherein said giftmanager enables the gift giver to modify the at least one selection rulein the multi-selection gift.
 13. The system of claim 8 furthercomprising a gift manager for cancelling the multi-selection giftgenerated by said gift generator.
 14. The system of claim 8 wherein saidgift generator enables the gift giver to designate the total number ofitems of merchandise that the gift recipient may select.
 15. The systemof claim 8 wherein said gift generator enables the gift giver todesignate the total cost of items of merchandise that the gift recipientmay select.
 16. The system of claim 8 wherein said gift generatorenables the gift giver to designate the total measure of items ofmerchandise that the gift recipient may select.
 17. The system of claim8 wherein at least two items of merchandise are grouped together as agift grouping, and wherein the at least one selection rule allowsselection of a gift grouping as a single item of merchandise.
 18. Thesystem of claim 17 wherein the at least one selection rule enables thegift giver to designate whether or not the gift recipient can un-group agroup of items of merchandise in a gift grouping into a plurality ofindividual items.
 19. A non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumstoring program code for causing a computing device: to maintain a giftdatabase comprising records for multi-selection gifts, each recordincluding a plurality of product identifiers for items of merchandise,and at least one selection rule governing selection of at least two ofthe items of merchandise; and to interactively enable a gift giver togenerate a multi-selection gift for at least one gift recipient, bypresenting, to the gift giver, a group of selection rules for selectionby the gift giver, the group consisting of allowing a gift recipient toselect up to a specified total number of items of merchandise in themulti-selection gift, allowing the gift recipient to select items ofmerchandise in the multi-selection gift up to a specified total cost,and at least one of: allowing the gift recipient to select all items ofmerchandise in the multi-selection gift, allowing the gift recipient toselect only one item of merchandise in the multi-selection gift, orallowing the gift recipient to select a grouping of items of merchandisefrom multiple defined groups of items.